2023-11-01 10:49:47
Headaches and anxiety? The older you get, the more emotional the hangover becomes.
Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio
Updated1. November 2023, 11:49
Nervous hangover: Why alcohol makes you more and more anxious – the older you get
You had a few glasses of wine, maybe one too many? If you feel anxious and stressed the day following, it’s not just the alcohol but also your age.
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After a night of drinking, your mind is on a whirlwind? Scenes from last night keep coming back, not leaving you in peace the next day. This feeling, which is often accompanied by stress and anxiety, has a name: hangxiety.
The English term is made up of the words hangover and anxiety. It describes the states that alcohol consumption can put you in: thoughtful, anxious, overwhelmed, stressed. In addition to the physical symptoms of a hangover, it also has a direct effect on your mood. The older you get, the more likely you are to suffer from hangover anxiety. Experts confirm this to “Huffpost”.
Big hangover due to lower muscle mass
Teri Wilder, mental health counselor and addiction and anxiety specialist, explains: “The ability to tolerate alcohol decreases with age, leading to an increase in anxiety symptoms and a reduced ability of the liver to process alcohol effectively .»
According to the expert, this is also because the older you get, the more likely you are to lose muscle mass. “Adults tend to have less muscle mass as they age, which results in the body containing less water overall to dilute the effects of alcohol,” says Wilder. The alcohol can then no longer be processed as quickly as when you were younger.
After a night of drinking, feelings of anxiety, stress and worry can arise.
Pexels/Liza Summer
Relaxation chemicals are decreasing
But a lot also happens in the brain when alcohol is consumed. Alcohol affects one of the most important inhibitory neurotransmitters of the human nervous system, GABA. Generally, these block or inhibit certain signals in the brain and reduce nervous system activity.
GABA is said to have a calming effect that reduces restlessness, tension and anxiety. But GABA levels decrease – both with intensive alcohol consumption and with increasing age.
Teri Wilder explains: “When you drink heavily, GABA levels drop and the brain depletes its reserves of the relaxation chemical, leading to an increase in anxiety, tension and possibly even feelings of panic.”
Liver function declines
Your liver also works worse the older you get. Joshua New, clinical director of a withdrawal facility in Texas, USA, explains to the newspaper: “The liver’s ability to detoxify the body and rid it of toxins becomes less efficient. This can contribute to more acute withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety as we age.” So a combination of all these changes in your body leads to more anxiety when hangover.
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